While I will admit that the readings in the book are becoming a bit more interesting, I am still not completely sold on it. As a result, this week I focused mainly on the packet that we were handed in class that talks about verbal communication across cultures and essentially, how every language differs in their expressions, social cues, etc. It was interesting to read about all of the differences in verbal communication especially because this is not something I have ever really experienced, or to be honest, ever really thought about.
I have only traveled outside the United States one time and that was to Australia. Let me give you a hint: I mainly went to Australia because they speak English and their country is the most like America than any place else. I am not good with change and adaptation if you could not tell J . So, although I spent around 5 months in Australia, I cannot really say that I experienced any communication barriers or differences in language expressions. There were a few things here and there, such as not tipping at restaurants because it is thought of as rude and I also was surprised at how slow-moving things seemed to be. Everyone was always relaxed and it was almost as if time really did not matter. Most of the students were on time for class, but if someone walked in late, it was never an issue. I distinctly remember one class, which was 50 minutes long, and a student walked in with only 10 minutes left. There were only 8 of us in the class so it was not as though her ‘fashionably late’ appearance went unnoticed, but in the end, the professor let her sign-in so she would get participation points and continued the rest of the lecture. If only that worked here at Richmond J
I have never been to Israel and I do not know much about their language expressions and social cues, but I can only imagine that they are probably very different than those found in the United States. Reading over the packet and reviewing the differences between indirect/high context cultures and direct/low context cultures, I would say that Israel is probably a highly contextual culture. Although I do not know for sure, from what I have studied thus far, it appears that the language and culture is more focused on leaving things unsaid and instead, letting the culture explain what is meant by a person’s actions, expressions, or use of words. In addition, from what I have studied, Hebrew words and word choice is extremely important. And also, high context cultures have a strong sense of history and tradition therefore it is logical to associate the Hebrew language with such a group. I learned about the history of the Hebrew language last week and although some changes have been made over time, the history of the Hebrew language is rich and much of their tribal and native societies still exist.
That being said, last week in class we also established that English is a direct/low context culture. I think that it is very obvious that our societies have come to place more emphasis on the idea of the ‘individual’ rather than the group. Likewise, because people leave independent lives, there is less of an innate understanding of others. We talk and we use words to try to convey what we are trying to say and that is the end of it. We take what is said at face value, rather than trying to figure out if there is a hidden message behind the words or words choice that people have used.
Because I do not know a lot about the Israeli culture and their specific social cues and expressions that are commonly found among the people who live there, it would definitely be in my best interest to learn more about this topic. Although I am not planning on traveling there anytime soon, it would be nice to eventually go there, and when that happens, I want to know as much about their culture and language expressions as I can. After all, gestures and expressions that we may find appropriate, they may frown upon and the last thing I want for myself is to be looked down upon and disrespected for not knowing the language.
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